Naples Airport

Information and Advertising united in one Digital Communication system reach 5.7 million passengers at Naples Airport

Naples International Airport opened for commercial traffic in 1950, after being used as a military airport since the early 1900s. Capodichino Airport, as it is also called, today welcomes 5,7 million travellers annually.

The airport management company Gesac is fully responsible for managing the airport and coordinating all activities of the private operators that are represented in the airport.

In order to enhance the customer experience at the airport, Gesac decided recently to install two LED walls, of 3 by 4 meters each, for marketing purposes. These impressive screens run on Scala software and now serve as the core element for the communication and advertising strategy at the airport.

The LED walls are located in the main entrance area of the departure hall, so they are clearly visible for all passengers, who can view a combination of important airport service information messages combined with advertising.

During the start up face of the project and for the first couple of months Scala Certified Partner Konvergence managed this digital installation by supplying hosting and content management services in collaboration with Deltronics, the supplier of the LED displays.

Ads + Info = High Viewing Rate

To extend their advertising network possibilities, the operator acquired the Scala Content Manager and Designer platform themselves, and found a way of increasing their revenue through offering advertising slots on the displays to outside parties.

Viewed by an immense 5,7 million people a year, the displays at Naples airport are a great advertising spot for national and local brands, especially because the advertising is displayed next to or in line with important airport services information, creating a much higher “guaranteed” viewing rate versus screens that only have an advertising focus. By selling advertisement spots or slots, Gesac are able to reduce the overall cost for operating the site significantly.

“At first I was a little afraid Scala was too complicated, looking at the wide range of functionalities available in Scala Content Manager, said Guglielmo Cirillo, Product Manager Advertising at Gesac I wanted something simple and reliable. However, when I started working with Scala, everything became clearer and I understood that all the available functionalities are there to give us more flexibility, especially for scheduling activities. And any time now when I have a new “ particular requirement, I discover it’s already present in Scala, ready to be used.

Easy to Use & Large Range of Functionalities

The two screens receive their content through one single Player that drives a single channel, divided in two frames, to the displays.

This configuration gives Gesac the possibilities to publish completely different content streams parallel to each other to the displays or to playback a single content stream in full screen mode. In this last playback mode it’s even possible to have graphical elements passing dynamically from one screen to the other, grabbing the audience’s attention even more.

“Konvergence has created an eye-catching digital installation that immediately draws the attention of everyone in the departure hall of Naples Airport,” states Damon Crowhurst, Senior Director, Scala EMEA. “An airport is open and operational 24/7 and 365 days a year. That means that the proven stability and perfect playback quality of the Scala software is crucial for promoting the airport’s services.”

Different media types such as video, animations, pictures and Scala scripts are combined within the playlists. The Scala scripts are used especially for informational content, created by Konvergence or Gesac. Advertisers generally prefer to provide their ads in graphical formats that are standard in the advertising industry.

About Gesac

Gesac S.p.A. – Gestione Servizi Aeroporti Campani – was established in 1980 by the city of Naples, the Province of Naples and Alitalia as a majority state- owned company. Fully aware of the strategic importance of private management for the future development of not only the airport but the city as well, the public partners (City and Province) decided to privatise Naples airport making it Italy’s first privatised airport. On December 21, 2010, pursuant to an agreement signed on October 1st, the sale of the majority of the shares in Gesac was finalised and the ownership of the company was definitively transferred into the hands of the Italian F2i – Fondi Italiani per le Infrastrutture- Group. Everyone interested in advertising its brand at the Capodichino airport can contact GesacADV by phone (081 7896496) or by email (adv@gesac.it). More information is available at http://www.portal.gesac.it/portal/page/portal/internet

About Konvergence

Konvergence offers a wide range of innovative IT solutions and services for the retail industry and is an Italian market leader in retail solutions. Through its strategic partnerships, Konvergence is able to offer the best integrated solutions and services available in the market, ranging from strategic management surveys to comprehensive CRM and supply chain projects. Konvergence has local offices in Bologna, Milan, Ravenna, Rome, Pescara and Campobasso. More information is available at www.konvergence.it.